Night Flying

But, for performance issues, and other things, I wonder how many
pilots have considered flying a cross county at night vs. during the day.

I have not flown a night cross country in nine years. (My last one was
a complete success, but probably the dumbest thing I've ever done in an
airplane.)

Mary and I decided, for all of the reasons already discussed in this
thread, to not fly at night unless absolutely necessary until our kids
are grown. As a result, we have only flown a tiny hand-full of hours
at night in recent years.

Night flying is pretty, and -- if the weather cooperates -- smooth as
glass. However, if your engine craps (which single engine planes are
occasionally prone to do) you're toast.

Given all the other risks we take in our lives, we figured that this
was a pretty easy one to eliminate.

Once the kids are on their own, however, I won't have any compunctions
about flying in the dark again.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
Night flying is pretty, and -- if the weather cooperates -- smooth as
glass. However, if your engine craps (which single engine planes are
occasionally prone to do) you're toast.


Not necessarily. I can think of several night crashes in rural eastern North
Carolina where the pilot walked away. Unlike my part of the state, there are a
lot of huge open fields in that area. Combined with some moonlight, I'd say you
have a pretty good shot at making it. In my part of the state, you're not
likely to be so lucky.

That being said, I thought of one cross country trip I used to make frequently,
and always at night by design: between Charlotte, NC and Lake City, FL.
Although getting a cab in Lake City after hours was always a PITA, arriving late
meant you got to arrive. If I waited until the early AM, ground fog ruined any
chance at all of getting in. And it's foggy there A LOT!




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE